Archpriest convicted of plotting clergy poisoning released on parole
Mamaladze was sentenced to nine years in 2017, after he was arrested at Tbilisi International Airport, with police discovering cyanide during personal search. Photo: reginfo
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Archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze, who was convicted in 2017 of plotting the murder of a high-ranking clergy member of the Georgian Orthodox Church, was released on parole on Wednesday.
In his remarks after the release, Mamaladze told the local media his imprisonment had been a case of “injustice”.
Mamaladze was sentenced to nine years in 2017, after he was arrested at Tbilisi International Airport, with police discovering cyanide during personal search.
Law enforcement claimed the arrested Archpriest was planning to travel to Germany, where Ilia II, the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church, was undergoing a laparoscopic gallbladder surgery at a Berlin clinic.
Brother of convicted archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze has announced he and his family will begin releasing evidence of crimes against top Georgian clerics following a refusal to give amnesty by the president.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has pardoned five inmates for Christmas, with convicted archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze not on the list. It is the first pardon act issued by the president after she declared a moratorium on pardoning prisoners in September 2019, following a turmoil surrounding two pardons of inmates convicted for murder.
A Holy Synod meeting earlier today has ended with the decision to dismiss Chkondidi Metropolitan Petre from the post and request the release of convicted archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze.
Archbishop Jacob, who has been one of the most influential figures in the Georgian Patriarchate, has quit the position of Patriarch Ilia II’s assistant and the chief of the Economic and Financial Council of the Patriarchate amid political turmoil around him.